


Vetri

by suitececilia



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle - Freeform, Rumbelle Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suitececilia/pseuds/suitececilia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry's search party has returned from Neverland at last, and Rumplestiltskin decides to take Belle on an impromptu date at a fancy restaurant. However, he did not account for an inept waiter, Belle's limited exposure to wine, talk of Burger Queen, or a spaghetti explosion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vetri

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The Forlorn Kumquat (sara_wolfe)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+Forlorn+Kumquat+%28sara_wolfe%29).



> Fluffy! Original prompt: Rumple hurt/comfort and Belle cuddles
> 
> A bit of a divergance from season three, where everything DOESN'T hurt.

"Oh Rumple, this is lovely!"

Belle looked around in wonder inside the upscale restaurant that her love had managed to procure reservations to for an impromptu date. After the most five nerve-wracking days of her life, nothing had brought more joy to Belle than seeing Rumplestiltskin appear from below deck on the Jolly Rodger when Henry's search party finally returned a few short days ago. She looked to her right at the man whom she had nearly thought to be lost and squeezed his hand again, meeting his eyes with a tentative smile.

Rumplestiltskin's eyes softened as he offered her a small smile in return. "I'm glad you think so," he answered, returning her squeeze with one of his own as they continued to await the front of house. "I thought it might be nice to take a break from the whirlwind of activity at Granny's." Though it was difficult to escape the prying eyes of the town with his reputation, Rumplestiltskin had made an effort to go somewhere off the beaten path. Though Belle had said nothing on the subject, he had noticed that after his initial arrival, she seemed just slightly less friendly than usual when having to share his company out of necessity of the town's ever emerging needs. The thought brought him more joy than it probably should have, but the newness of their relationship and its reciprocal nature still hadn't worn off on him.

A waiter's sudden arrival broke him out of his thoughts. The young man was visibly nervous, if the stain on his white shirt hadn't given it away first. Normally he would make a comment about being made to wait. But Rumplestiltskin really was trying to make a change for the better (and for Belle's sake of course), so he let it slide with a curt nod. "Table ready?" he asked.

The young man's eyebrows rose, but he took the pass in reprimand from the infamous Mr. Gold for what it was worth and nodded emphatically. "Right this way," he said, gesturing to the stairs leading up to another section further from the door. "So sorry about the wait; our manager had a few finishing touches to add."

"Finishing touches?" Belle asked, casting a suspicious gaze to her date. "I thought we were just going somewhere new for the sake of it." 

Rumplestiltskin had the decency to avert his eyes as he pulled out Belle's chair, having reached their destination. "I can't help wanting to spoil you, dear." 

She rolled her eyes playfully as he shuffled over to his seat across from her at the square table. Her gaze drifted to the atmosphere in question and did not find it lacking. "Well, thank you," she said with a small grin. "It really is very nice. And certainly different." Belle had not previously heard of Vetri, as the eatery was named, and she was surprised that none of her female acquaintances or friends had mentioned it before. Surely this place would have been a perfect choice for an anniversary dinner? "But Rumple, you know that you could take me to a Burger Queen-"

"King, dear," he corrected with a chuckle.

"-King, and I would be happy as long as you were with me," she finished, placing her hand over his across the table with a gentle squeeze.

Rumplestiltskin turned his hand palm up and intertwined his fingers with hers. Her resulting smile was contagious. "And I as well, love." His hand returned her previous squeeze before his smile stretched into a grin. "However, I hope to show you the few remaining fine establishments in this town before we venture to those kinds of places."

Belle giggled behind her other hand. She wished that he would be just a bit more serious, but the fact that he had yet to become self-deprecating so far on their date was her dominant thought. _He really is trying to change_ , she thought. "No, I don't suppose they've got this at Burger King, do they?" Belle motioned to the rest of their isolated seating area. There were twinkle lights woven between the iron fenceposts surrounding the small plateau of hardwood floor, separating the seating area from the perimeter of the room that usually housed buffet tables for larger events. The long walls were tastefully decorated with a mural depicting a Venetian canal with the city in the distance, while the short walls were an off-white color. There were a few potted plants in the corners of the room, and the lights were slightly dimmed. The other tables, while uninhabited, had two lit candles in the center of each of them, making the room feel rather cozy. 

"Certainly not," Rumplestiltskin said. "Do you know what you would like to order?"

This question brought Belle back to the present, and she glanced down at the menu. "Well, there are plenty of things I still have yet to try...what about spaghetti?"

Rumplestiltskin groaned internally, picturing Red trying to distract her friend while he was away with movies in which cartoon animals ate Italian cuisine, but was unopposed to her choice. "That sounds fine." He closed his menu and suddenly their initial waiter was reentering the room.

"Have we come to a decision for tonight's meal?" he asked, nervousness only evident through his abuse of his order book, which was looking a little worse for wear in a fidgeting grip.

Rumplestiltskin closed his menu and extended it towards the young man. "Spaghetti and meatballs, as per the lady," he announced. "And drinks, if it's not too much trouble." Though his snark was much less evident than it would have normally been, the young man fumbled the menu briefly and took a moment to collect Belle's menu from in front of her. 

"Of course, sir! My apologies for forgetting. Do- do you need to see a drink list?" he offered. 

Belle hid a small smile behind her now folded hands. "Just lemonade for me, please," she said.

"Do you have the list on you?" her date asked with a neutral face, aiming for a tone of practicality (not impatience) and mostly succeeding.

"Um, no, but we have-"

"Water is fine, dearie. Do bring some bread back with the dinner salads though."

"Of course, on the house!" The young man dashed off, scribbling furiously on his tablet as he hurried from the room. Rumplestiltskin let out a small breath and massaged the bridge of his nose.

"You're being very generous tonight," Belle said, trying to hide her smile.

"Yes, indeed."

She nudged his foot under the table. "Well, I appreciate it," she answered, joking aside. 

With thoughts of how lucky he was that his beloved was accepting of the small steps he was trying to take towards being a better man, Rumple retook Belle's hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "Thank _you_ ," he countered.

Belle raised an eyebrow. "Whatever for?"

"For always accepting me as I am," he answered with a soft smile. Light pink hues colored her cheeks, and she smiled back. 

"It is forever, as a wise man once said."

"So he did."

* * *

An hour later found the couple quite full. The tablecloth had suffered a few casualties from Belle's quest for more meatballs ("It's hardly fair; I only got two, and you've got a small army of them!"), but there was still enough left for a box to take home ("Leftovers here are something else; you can often transform them into a different meal altogether, depending on what else is in your refrigerator."). Rumplestiltskin had insisted that Belle try a new wine, since they were celebrating (though what exactly it was he had never established, she realized later), which she had consumed just a bit faster than what she was wont to do, having been distracted by her love's tales of his time in Neverland. She sighed contentedly and offered her hand to Rumple once more. "Can we go home now?"

He smiled reflexively; though she was endearing being just the slightest bit tipsy, it was heart-warming to think that she had felt comfortable enough to refer to his abode as her home as well. "Of course; as soon as the lad comes for the check, we can leave." 

"Excellent," she said with a toothy grin. She pulled the to-go box to her side of the table and wrapped her arms around it as if it were one of the many books she was usually toting around. She glanced around the room once more. "Can we get lights like those?" she asked out of the blue, inclining her head towards the twinkle lights framing the perimeter of the room.

Rumplestiltskin followed her gaze. "Well dear, most people use them as Christmas decorations, but we could certainly acquire some." 

Visibly happy to be nearly finished his task of waiting on the most powerful man in Storybrooke and his girlfriend, the waiter bustled into the room with the black, leather check book containing the bill. "Thank you again for choosing Vetri! You can either leave the book on the table or find me as you exit."

Rumplestiltskin raised an eyebrow at such an open-ended practice but chose to ignore it. "It'll be on the table."

"Of course, of course," the man said, clearly at a loss for small talk. "Have a pleasant evening!" He actually bowed before turning around and retreating to the kitchens for a well-deserved break.

"Thank you!" Belle called after him. "You know, he did rather well," she said conspiratorially across the table.

"Yes; and so concludes another rite of passage for a low income worker in restaurant services." Rumple brought his fingers together a few times for effect, and Belle giggled. He pulled his wallet from his pocket, counted out a few bills, and placed them in the leather book. "Now, let's get home." Belle gave a genuine smile and rose from her seat, putting the box back down momentarily to brush some crumbs from her maroon skirt. Her date picked his cane up and rose from the table, walking over to join her. "Can you get the box?"

"Of course," she replied.

After offering her a private smile, Rumplestiltskin placed his hand at the small of her back, and the two of them walked through the restaurant back to where his black Cadillac was parked in the lot outside. Though he wouldn't argue outright with Belle about it, he really disliked using parking places designated for handicapped patrons. However, he had conceded to still park as close as possible to the front doors without infringing on said spots. The couple parted to return to their respective sides of the car, and Belle took a moment to think once more how happy she was to have her love back in Storybrooke at her side, the effects of the wine slowly fading away. The car hummed to life and pulled out of the lot and into the street. She spent the short drive sparing glances across the front seat at Rumplestiltskin and sneaking touches to his shoulder and elbow, not wanting to interfere with his driving.

At last, they reached his pink, humble abode. Rumplestiltskin removed the keys from the ignition and glanced across his seat, meeting Belle's eyes. "Shall we?"

Nodding, she smiled and reached for his hand briefly before opening her own car door and exiting the vehicle with the styrofoam box from the restaurant. Rumple smiled at her and opened his door, moving his left foot out of the car first but (in his small haste to catch up to Belle) caught his right foot on the lip of the interior's floor and promptly landed palms first in an ungraceful pile of tailored suit onto the pavement. He hissed in a flash of pain. "Damned-"

"Oh!" Belle had turned around at hearing a thud behind her only to watch helplessly as Rumple tumbled from the car. She rushed back to his side, internally berating her choice of heels for the evening with each step. "I'm so sorry! What can I-"

"No need for you to apologize, dear," he said with as much kindness as he could muster at the moment. "Just a miscalculation on my part." He reached for where he thought his cane had landed, only to find Belle had somehow gotten to it first. 

"Here; let me help you." She handed it to him gold-end first and offered her hand. 

"Thank you; I can manage though..." Clutching the top of the cane through his slight discomfort, Rumplestiltskin planted the other end on the ground and tried to sit up, bringing his good leg underneath him for support.

Belle pursed her lips. "Please?" She had dropped her hand, not wanting to coddle him but still knowing he might need her assistance.

He looked up, expecting to see her frustration at his immobility and shortcomings that he had brought upon himself. He was (as always) surprised to see concern overriding the other emotions on her face. "Alright," he said almost reverently. He reached for her hand with his free one, and together they were able to support his weight as he found enough purchase to rise from the ground. "Thank you, love," he said softly, interlacing their fingers instead of letting go. 

Quietly hoping that he would soon grow to expect her concern for him, Belle leaned up a bit to deliver a soft peck to his cheek. "Always."

Rumple squeezed her hand, and the two began walking towards the house. Once they made it up the stairs and onto the porch, a thought occurred to him. "Belle," he began. "Whatever happened to the-"

"Oh, the spaghetti!" Belle exclaimed. Her head swiveled around to glance back to the car, and she began laughing.

"What, did-" Rumplestiltskin turned his head to follow her line of vision, and chuckled when he saw the box lying open in the middle of the front yard, harboring most of the pasta explosion that had happened when Belle had flung it aside in her urgency to get back to the car.

"I guess we will have to wait to try leftovers with that," she joked.

He smiled and pulled out his house keys. "It's no matter. We can make some instead; it is an easy enough meal to prepare." He twisted the knob and the two entered the house, Belle flicking on the hallway light as the door closed behind them. 

Belle caught his wincing, and furrowed her eyebrows. "Is it your leg?"

He made a disgruntled sort of noise. "No, it's not so bad today."

She frowned a little and pulled him in the direction of the living room, where the solitary television of the house resided. They approached the couch facing it, and she dropped his hand. "Wait here," she instructed, turning to head for the kitchen.

Rumple fought the urge to insist that he did not need tending to. "As my lady wishes," he said, adding some of the flair characteristic of his old persona into his inflection. He heard a pleased noise from the other room, and soon enough the chestnut curls reentered the room holding a white box with a red cross on it. He looked perplexed. "How did you find that? I don't remember ever getting one..."

Belle shrugged. "I picked it up while you were away. Everyone else has them, and I didn't want to be caught unawares." Rumple thought of how he had been sure to place one of the kits in her apartment above the library, and was again inwardly pleased that in his absence, she had sought out the comfort of his home.

"Very practical," he agreed. He let out a small whoosh of air between his teeth at finding she had distracted him from her ministrations, which apparently meant her cleaning and dressing the small cuts on his palms. 

"Sorry!"

"That's quite alright. I will just have to not repeat this experience, eh?" He winked at her as she finished, placing the roll of gauze back into the metal box and closing it with some finality on the end table next to the couch.

"That's right. But, if you do," she said, climbing onto the couch next to him, "at least we know I can help." She gave him a moment to adjust to her presence before settling between his legs and snuggling into his warm chest.

"You're the only help I'll ever need," he whispered into her hair, tracing small, circular patterns on her back.

She leaned her head up to look into his eyes and smiled, eyes shining. "Then it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere." She kissed his lips softly and returned to her snug spot under his chin. 

"Indeed it is, love." He wrapped his arms around her torso and closed his eyes, thinking of the small, velvet box inside his dresser drawer upstairs and the ring it contained. "Indeed it is."


End file.
